What is probably the last thing you want when you have been on the road for close to eight weeks? A long, hard day of chasing the ball to all corners of the ground, and being so gone mentally and physically by the end that your batsmen become fodder for the new ball.

But from the moment Joe Root strode forward and defended Ishant Sharma in to the covers with more intent than he had shown all series, that kind of day was precisely what seemed in store for India.

In fact, India were reduced to being the sideshow, just hovering in the background somewhere to provide some context. Or bowl the next ball. Or fetch it from the boundary. Or become the next wicket to fall.

They were also literally reduced, right at the start of the day. Ishant had bowled all of one over before he returned to the dressing room with an ankle strain, never to return for the rest of the England innings.

So what is worse than going in on that rare occasion with only four bowlers, when you are so used as captain to operating with five? One of them breaking down.

Alastair Cook scored a century in his final test innings as England took complete control on Day 4 of the fifth test against India at the Oval on Monday.

Not that the other three lacked in effort or commitment. Jasprit Bumrah still made Root jump and fend a snorter on a slow surface.

Mohammed Shami kept running in like a man possessed who had long ago made peace, almost, with the fact that fortune had deserted him totally. England were leading by nearly 450 runs, and he was still making Test batsmen look like beginners. He had started to glare at them now after beating them. Maybe it was some kind of release for all the frustration.

Ravindra Jadeja had completed his 46th over moments ago when he tore in from long leg to long stop to prevent another boundary. It was a feat that drew applause from the 19,300 people at The Oval on a Monday afternoon.

They had had plenty of applauding to do all day. Alastair Cook was ticking off milestones as if he was in a hurry and it was his last game, which it was. They rose for his fifty, for him overtaking Kumar Sangakkara to become the fifth-leading Test run-getter of all time, for his 33rd Test century, and for the last time he walked off in an international match, bat in hand, dismissed on 147.

Cook reached the landmark thanks to four overthrows from Bumrah, and Kohli had his share of scowling at and rebuking his fielder before he joined in the clapping belatedly.

Cook’s successor, Root, finished the series on a high as well, making his first substantial score since being run out by Virat Kohli on 80 in the first innings of the first Test at Edgbaston.

If there was one word to describe Cook and Root’s partnership, it was remorseless. It is a word that also defines their batting styles. The 259 runs they added, and the rate at which they added them, deflated India so thoroughly their top order crumbled within 20 deliveries.

Shikhar Dhawan managed 1, Cheteshwar Pujara and Kohli got ducks. The tide had turned so completely since Kohli ran out Root that the Indian captain lasted one ball, poking at Stuart Broad way outside off stump and nicking behind (For the record, he did not fall to his 2014 nemesis James Anderson even once in this series).

Even as Ravindra Jadeja was strutting his stuff towards the end of the India first innings, Alastair Cook stood in contemplation at long-on. Was he thinking about what was soon coming? His 291st, and final, innings in his 161st, and final, Test match.

Before the start of this Test, Cook had announced his retirement, saying he had nothing left in the tank after 160 Tests. It turned out he still had something left, enough to make 71 and 147. It was India who were left with nothing in the tank. They had emptied the last of their reserves in competing with England over five away Tests. At least Cook got multiple standing ovations. India may return with a 1-4 scoreline, which sounds like a hammering whichever way you look at it.

Recent Messages ()

Please rate before posting your Review

OR PROCEED WITHOUT REGISTRATION

Share on Twitter

SIGN IN WITH

Refrain from posting comments that are obscene, defamatory or inflammatory, and do not indulge in personal attacks, name calling or inciting hatred against any community. Help us delete comments that do not follow these guidelines by marking them offensive. Let's work together to keep the conversation civil.